FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

12 Months Ended

May 31, 2011

Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]

19. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

The Company determines the appropriate level in the fair value hierarchy for each fair value measurement of assets and liabilities carried at fair value on a recurring basis in the Company’s financial statements. The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs, which refer to assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability, based upon the highest and best use, into three levels as follows:

• Level 1 Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date.

• Level 2 Observable inputs other than unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities such as

o Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets

o Quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets

o Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability

o Inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means

• Level 3 Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data available, which are significant to the fair value measurement and require the Company to develop its own assumptions.

The Company’s financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value consisted of cash and cash equivalents, debt and foreign currency forward contracts. Cash and cash equivalents are comprised of bank deposits and short-term investments, such as money market funds, the fair value of which is based on quoted market prices, a Level 1 fair value measure. The Company employs Level 2 fair value measurements for its 5% Notes and its various lines of credit. For a more complete description, see Note 5, “Debt.” The fair values of foreign currency forward contracts, used by the Company to manage the impact of foreign exchange rate changes to the financial statements, are based on quotations from financial institutions, a Level 2 fair value measure. See Note 18, “Derivatives and Hedging,” for a more complete description of fair value measurements employed.

Non financial assets and liabilities for which the Company employs fair value measures on a non-recurring basis include:

• long-lived assets

• investments

• assets acquired in a business combination

• goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets

• long-lived assets held for sale

Level 2 and Level 3 inputs are employed by the Company in the fair value measurement of these assets and liabilities. In fiscal 2011, the Company recognized a loss related to an other-than-temporary impairment of $3.6 for a UK-based cost method investment. The Company utilized Level 3 measurements in the fair value assessment (see Note 7, “Investments”). In fiscal 2011, the Company recognized a loss of $3.4 related to an impairment of goodwill. In fiscal 2010, the Company recognized impairments of goodwill and indefinite-lived and long-lived assets totaling $43.1. The Company used Level 3 inputs in its determination of the fair value of these impaired assets. See Note 8, “Goodwill and Other Intangibles,” for a discussion of the fair value measures employed in these asset impairment analyses.